UNB :
As online shoppers continued to be cheated by e-commerce frauds in the country, detectives held the founder and CEO of Qcoom, another e-commerce platform, on charges of fraudulence and embezzlement.
Confirming the information of his detention, ADC (Media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Iftekharul Islam told UNB that the details about taking Qcoom CEO Ripon Miah into custody will soon be revealed at a media briefing.
Ripon was held at a time when the country’s e-commerce sector has been rattled by scams of different e-commerce platforms like Evaly, E-orange and Dhamaka.
On October 2, members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested Saiful Islam, director of ringID, a social media platform, from Gulshan in the capital on charge of misappropriating huge money.
The arrest followed a case filed by an aggrieved person against 25 people, including 10 named and 15 unnamed ones, with Bhatara police on September 30.
The controversial social media platform allegedly embezzled over Tk 200 crore in just three months this year by alluring people in its investment (Ponzi) scheme promising online income.
Evaly CEO Mohammad Rassel and his wife Shamima Nasrin were arrested after an aggrieved customer, Arif Baker, lodged a case with Gulshan police station accusing them and few other company executives of embezzlement and fraudulence.
Sub-inspector Ahidul Islam, the investigation officer of the case, said the case was registered over the allegation of embezzlement of money and fraudulence.
Besides, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), an arm of the Bangladesh Bank that specializes in financial crime investigations, directed all the commercial banks and financial institutions through a common letter on August 27 to freeze all the bank accounts operated by top executives of Evaly.
The Directorate of National Consumer Right Protection, a department under the Commerce Ministry, received allegations from consumers about “cheating” by Evaly.
Bangladesh Bank officials said one of the major allegations against Evaly is forcing its consumers to deposit their money in the e-wallet of the firm which was totally illegal.
On September 2, a Dhaka court sent virtual outlet e-orange.shop owner Sonia Mehzabin, her husband Masukur Rahman and, Chief Operating Officer, Aman Ullah to jail in a fraud case filed over embezzlement of Tk 1,100 crore from consumers.
Earlier on August 23, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Morshed Al Mamun Bhuiyan placed the accused on a 5-day remand in the fraud case.
On August 17, the court sent them to jail rejecting their bail prayers when they surrendered to Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Abubakar Siddique’s court.
On August 16, an aggrieved customer of E-Orange Md, Taherul Islam, filed a fraud case with Gulshan police in presence of 37 other customers who testified against the accused.
